Thomas Arnold, instructed by the Australian Government Solicitor, successfully appeared for the Commissioner of Taxation in Hadzic v Commissioner of Taxation [2026] FCA 930.

The taxpayer was assessed to income tax and penalties and sought review of the Commissioner’s objection decision as to same in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (as it then was). The Tribunal affirmed the Commissioner’s objection decision. The taxpayer appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Federal Court of Australia.

The taxpayer’s 13 grounds of appeal included, in summary, failure to properly apply the law with respect to the onus provisions, apprehended bias, failure to determine a claim for legal professional privilege and breach of s118 of the Commonwealth Constitution.

In dismissing the appeal, the Federal Court found, amongst other things, that:

• the onus provisions were properly applied by the Tribunal;
• there was no basis for concluding that the Tribunal was “incapable of bringing a truly impartial mind to bear” on the case and so the ground of apprehended bias was not made out;
• it was not necessary to make a finding as to waiver of legal professional privilege once a finding had been made that the communications in question were not probative;
• section 118 of the Constitution was not breached because there was no prior determination of a Court that the Commissioner (and therefore the Tribunal standing in the shoes of the Commissioner) must abide.

A copy of the decision can be found here.